Jessica Rothe says Happy Death Day 3 story is ready, awaits funding
Jessica Rothe says she and Christopher Landon have worked out the entire story for a third Happy Death Day film. The hold-up is money, with Rothe saying the pair are waiting for Universal and Blumhouse to fund it, in an interview with Deadline at the Toronto Film Festival.
No script yet. But the plot is done. That is the step screenwriters call breaking the story, mapping out the twists and turns before dialogue is written.
Rothe said the planning happened over coffee. She and Landon met at a Le Pain Quotidien café between their houses to talk through the third film, she told Deadline.
The comments came while Rothe was promoting a different film, River. She spoke at Deadline Studio Day 1 for the 2026 Toronto Film Festival at the Bisha Hotel on 11 September 2026.
River is directed by Joshua Giuliano, with Rothe playing a character named Carla. The cast also includes Jane Levy, Max Mattern and Dane DiLiegro.
The time-loop horror series began with Happy Death Day in 2017, penned by Scott Lobdell and directed by Landon. The follow-up, Happy Death Day 2U, arrived in 2019, written and directed by Landon, and brought back Rothe and Israel Broussard.
Talk of a third film has run for years. In March, Rothe said Landon had the next instalment figured out and it was a matter of getting “ducks in a row,” as reported by Deadline.
For fans, this means the idea is ready and the decision now sits with the studios. Nothing is filming. Nothing is dated. But the two central voices say they know exactly what happens next.
